A Parisian Lady

This painting shows a fashionable Parisienne in casual clothes. She is wearing a black dress with an accentuated waistline and a draped bustle, a hat, gloves, a handbag and black lace-up boots. The quality, trimmings and style of the clothes showed the social and economic status of the wearer. The model is the actress Ellen André. But above all, this is a picture of a modern woman, not a portrait of a particular individual. Prominent men and women were traditionally portrayed in full length. Here, a new powerful agent and status symbol is portrayed – the woman as consumer and the woman as commodity.